cats, mint juleps, and home improvement

I don’t know if I ever mentioned that this bathroom is used by three men. I wanted it to be updated, sophisticated, and not even a little bit girly. The accent tile gave me the reds and browns and greys, and the white subway tile and tub brought in the white accents. I decided to…

I never thought I would be done tiling the shower. I thought I would die cutting pencil tile on a precise 45 degree angle to fit in an inside corner and I thought I would never feel my fingertips again because of the thinset and grout. but once it was FINALLY done it was time…

A quick note on tile. I knew I wanted white subway, and a decorative boarder. I didn’t know I wanted two colors, that was added later. But I went down to a really cool store in Baltimore called Second Chance. This place likes to give second chances to people and things – they salvage things…

You all know by now that I can’t do anything halfway. So, when I knew I was going to be doing this bathroom, I wanted there to be some built in shelves. I don’t really understand why tubs and showers are not designed with more storage – we KNOW we are going to need it….

First step, the floor. The floor had some serious damage and rot, so part of the sub floor had to be replaced. I don’t want to talk about how fun it is to cut and install what is basically a giant puzzle piece. Once the subfloor was patched I covered the entire floor in…

The most frustrating part of this project was how much time it took to rip everything out. Demo is fun for like, ten minutes. Careful demo, demo that doesn’t destroy the neighboring rooms, is not fun. It’s prying nails out carefully with a crow bar, it’s using six different saws to extract a cabinet in…

Welcome to my next hair raising project. This is my first year as a school teacher, so it’s my first summer off. Since the day I applied the plan was to spend my summer fixing my dad’s bathroom – BEFORE THE TUB FELL THROUGH THE FLOOR. No, I’m not…

It would be wrong to say the coop is entirely finished. But I left the state of Georgia to start on the next big project, so it’s as finished as it is going to get for now. I enclosed the entire run in wire. You can see the nuggets under the coop, exploring. Also, you…

Adding shutters was my next big step. I really wanted the coop to be able to be shut when the huge thunderstorms hit. But I wanted the shutters to be open most of the time, so they had to move. And I wanted them to be PAINFULLY cute. One piece of shutter. It will take…

First, I went and got a piece of wood to use for the roof of the nesting box. I painted it white, though I’m either going to have to shingle it or replace it every few years. Then it was time to start work on the run. I’ll be honest, we have reached…

I ordered a batch of succulents to help fill the green roof, along with a bunch of sedum. I also ordered a creeping rosemary plant and some creeping thyme. Strong smells will help keep pests away from the chickens. I filled and planted the roof, but I didn’t take any pictures because I did it…

The right of the coop is where the run is going to be. This entire side will eventually be covered by a roof. It has the door to the coop, and also the fans. This was my first adventure into solar power and there was a LOT of research. Most solar powered things require a…